Paper templates for slab pottery

Print it, cut it, build it. Fifteen patterns drawn to work.

Exact-size paper templates for hand building: a mug, a tumbler, a butter dish, a planter, a table lamp, a teapot and nine more. Every piece sits whole on its own sheet with a 1 inch check square, the seams and bevels are planned, and the finished size is worked out before you roll a slab.

Free for anyone logged in to a Clay Hole account$6 to $12 each for everyone elseUS Letter, print at 100 percent
Log in to download them free See all fifteen
Printed paper pottery templates and paper cutouts on a rolled clay slab with tools and a finished mug, at The Clay Hole in Draper, Utah
The first ten

Ten to start with, from a 30 minute ring dish to a two hour house

Each one opens on its own page with what it makes, what is in the pack, a free sample to flip through, and the download. Sizes are what comes out of the kiln, at 12 percent shrinkage.

A straight-sided handmade stoneware slab mug with a strip handle, made from The Clay Hole paper template, on a wooden table Paper template 01 The Slab Mug A straight-sided 11 ounce mug with a slab handle.
  • Beginner
  • an hour
  • 2 sheets
about 11 oz, 4 3/16 in tall, 3 1/16 in across $6, free for membersOpen Two matching tapered stoneware tumblers in a teal glaze, made from The Clay Hole tapered tumbler paper template Paper template 02 The Tapered Tumbler An 8 ounce cup that flares out toward the rim, cut as one fan-shaped wall.
  • Beginner
  • 45 minutes
  • 2 sheets
about 8 oz, 3 15/16 in tall, 3 in across the rim $6, free for membersOpen A six-sided white stoneware bud vase with mitered corners holding dried grass, made from The Clay Hole hexagon vase paper template Paper template 03 The Hexagon Bud Vase Six tapered panels and a hexagon base, with mitered corners.
  • Intermediate
  • 90 minutes
  • 1 sheet
5 3/4 in tall, 2 7/16 in across the base $6, free for membersOpen A deep blue stoneware wall pocket vase hanging on a wall with eucalyptus, made from The Clay Hole wall pocket paper template Paper template 04 The Wall Pocket A half-cone hanging vase with a flat back and a hanging hole.
  • Intermediate
  • an hour
  • 2 sheets
6 13/16 in tall with the hanger, 3 15/16 in wide $8, free for membersOpen A small square pink stoneware keepsake box with a flat lid, made from The Clay Hole lidded box paper template Paper template 05 The Lidded Keepsake Box A square box with a flat lid that locates on an inner flange.
  • Intermediate
  • 90 minutes
  • 1 sheet
3 1/2 in square, 2 5/8 in tall with the lid, $8, free for membersOpen A sage green stoneware butter dish with the lid lifted to show the butter, made from The Clay Hole butter dish paper template Paper template 06 The Butter Dish A lidded dish sized to a real stick of butter, East Coast or West Coast.
  • Intermediate
  • 90 minutes
  • 2 sheets
lid 5 1/4 in x 2 3/16 in inside, plate 6 5/8 in x 3 1/2 in $8, free for membersOpen A tapered square speckled stoneware planter in its matching saucer with a pothos, made from The Clay Hole planter paper template Paper template 07 The Square Planter and Saucer A tapered 4 inch planter with a drainage hole and its own saucer.
  • Beginner
  • 90 minutes
  • 2 sheets
3 15/16 in across the top, 3 3/4 in tall, saucer 4 5/8 in square $6, free for membersOpen A folded black stoneware serving tray holding nigiri sushi, made from The Clay Hole folded tray paper template Paper template 08 The Folded Serving Tray One slab, four corners cut away, sides folded up. The fastest tray there is.
  • Beginner
  • 30 minutes
  • 1 sheet
6 5/8 in x 4 3/8 in with 1 1/8 in sides $6, free for membersOpen A small stoneware tealight house with a blue roof glowing from a candle inside, made from The Clay Hole tealight house paper template Paper template 09 The Tealight House A little gabled house that sits over a tealight and glows through its windows.
  • Intermediate
  • two hours
  • 1 sheet
3 1/16 in wide, 4 5/8 in to the peak $6, free for membersOpen A lavender stoneware ring dish with a cone holding two gold rings, made from The Clay Hole ring dish paper template Paper template 10 The Ring Dish and Ring Cone A shallow round dish with a cone in the middle for rings.
  • Beginner
  • 30 minutes
  • 1 sheet
dish 4 3/16 in across, cone 2 5/8 in tall $6, free for membersOpen
The advanced five

Five that take more sheets, more evenings, and in two cases a trip to the hardware store

A table lamp with the socket hole and the cord hole drawn in, a mantel clock built around a quartz movement, a wren house whose roof lifts off for the clean-out, a square teapot whose spout lands flat on the wall, and a quart pitcher from two fans. $12 each, free for anyone logged in. The lamp and the clock carry a hardware page with the parts to buy and a drawing of how they stack.

Cover page of The Slab Table Lamp, a printable pottery paper template from The Clay Hole in Draper, Utah Paper template 11 The Slab Table Lamp A tapered six-sided lamp body with the socket hole and the cord hole drawn in, built to take a standard lamp kit.
  • Advanced
  • three hours
  • 2 sheets, 7 pages
8 9/16 in tall to the top plate, 4 13/16 in across the base $12, free for membersOpen Cover page of The Mantel Clock, a printable pottery paper template from The Clay Hole in Draper, Utah Paper template 12 The Mantel Clock An arch-topped mantel clock with the shaft hole and the twelve hour marks on the template, built around a standard quartz movement.
  • Advanced
  • two and a half hours
  • 2 sheets, 7 pages
face 5 1/4 in wide, 5 1/2 in tall, 2 3/16 in deep on its base $12, free for membersOpen Cover page of The Wren House, a printable pottery paper template from The Clay Hole in Draper, Utah Paper template 13 The Wren House A gabled birdhouse built to the nest box numbers wrens and chickadees use, with a roof that lifts off for the clean-out.
  • Advanced
  • three hours, long dry
  • 3 sheets, 8 pages
4 3/8 in square, 8 1/2 in to the peak, entry 1 1/8 in $12, free for membersOpen Cover page of The Square Teapot, a printable pottery paper template from The Clay Hole in Draper, Utah Paper template 14 The Square Teapot A four-cup slab teapot with a cone spout whose landing curve is worked out, a lid that locates on a flange, and a strap handle.
  • Advanced
  • four hours
  • 3 sheets, 7 pages
about 32 oz, 4 3/8 in square, 4 3/8 in tall with the lid $12, free for membersOpen Cover page of The Quart Pitcher, a printable pottery paper template from The Clay Hole in Draper, Utah Paper template 15 The Quart Pitcher A tall tapered pitcher built from two fan-shaped halves, with a cut spout tongue and a strap handle.
  • Advanced
  • two and a half hours
  • 3 sheets, 7 pages
about 35 oz, 7 1/2 in tall, 4 3/16 in across the foot $12, free for membersOpen
How a template works

Print, check, roll, cut, build

A paper template does one thing: it puts the same shape on the slab every time, at a size that was decided before the clay came out of the bag. That is how a set of four tumblers matches, and how a lid fits the box it was cut with.

1

Print at 100 percent

Actual size, never Fit to page. Plain copy paper works. Card stock survives a wet slab and can be used again.

2

Measure the square

Every sheet carries a 1 inch square and a 5 centimeter bar. A ruler on the square settles whether the print is right.

3

Roll a 1/4 inch slab

Every template is drawn for it. Let the slab firm up to soft leather hard, so it holds an edge and still bends.

4

Cut the count, then build

Lay the paper on the slab, cut straight down just outside the edge, bevel where the hatching says, and follow the numbered steps.

Why these, and why free

Worked out from the finished piece backward

A template that is close is worse than no template, because you trust it. Every number in these packs starts at the finished size and runs through the slab thickness and the shrinkage to the flat shape that makes it. Then the finished files were measured to prove the shapes landed where they should.

  • Tapered walls are drawn as fans, not trapezoids, so they close into a cone with no pleats
  • Lids, flanges, saucers and ridges carry their clearance at wet size, so the parts still fit after they shrink together
  • Each pack has a size table at 10, 12 and 14 percent shrinkage, because 52 Buff, B-Mix and porcelain do not shrink the same
  • Every piece sits whole on one sheet. No taping halves together
  • Members download every one free, and every new one free as it is drawn. For everyone else they are $6 to $12 each, with a free sample to flip through first

When you want to draw your own, the University lesson Turning a Paper Pattern into a Three-Dimensional Pot walks through the arithmetic, and these fifteen are built the way it teaches.

Members

Every template, free, every time

Print one tonight and bring it to your next session. If you are not a member yet, a membership includes these along with the classes, the kilns, the glaze wall and everything else in the studio.

Log in to download them free See what a membership includes